


Caged

by Piff



Series: Bye Bye Birdy [4]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Pitch Black, Stupidity, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 09:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1131061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piff/pseuds/Piff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all fun and games until the door locks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caged

**Author's Note:**

> So I have decided for my little Birdy AU that Jack is about 12. Small and young enough to be coddled, right before the teenage I'm An ADULT! years. I've been told I can only get better at writing if I keep writing, soooooo here goes.

In the beginning, there was a labyrinth..

Sometimes Jack didn’t leave the underground fortress for days. There were too many things to see, places to find, empty caverns and curling hallways and stairs that went nowhere that begged to be explored and tagged with JACK WAS HERE and W1NT3R RULZ. He needed to find the best nesting spot to be his, all his today and all his tomorrow and all his in a long stretch of tomorrows without worry about it being flooded or vandalized. His own room! But which?

Perhaps he was exploring (snooping) on foot and chasing or being chased by a Nightmare. Points if he froze it before it ran from sight. Points for it if the horse made him scream like a fledgling by popping out of a wall. Or floor. Or ceiling. It was the Extreme Edition of Hide’n’Seek and it was awesome.

Or further yet, maybe he was in the great cavern that seemed to take up entire football fields of space, Jack flying on the wind and using the heavy, spiked cages as his personal obstacle course. Nightmares optional. Points lost if he ran into a cage with a CLANG!

Jack considered it bonus points if it made Pitch come out, demanding to know what on earth was going on to make such racket, was he five?

But until this day, this very specific moment, Jack had not stopped to consider what the menacing cages truly were. Not until being knocked off his wind by a horse, flailing arms wind milling and catching on to metal bars. Actually relieved to have caught it, climbing further up till he could swing the door open and plop inside. 

“HA! Thought you had me there didn’t you? Too slow, like a fat seagull!” taunting the Nightmare as he crouched on the iron floor. He only needed a moment to catch his breath and then he’d be back in the fray and..

The door swung shut.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

To say Pitch was unprepared for an intense blast of terror inside his own sanctuary, was an understatement. Being quite the snob when it came to his likes and dislikes, it was a very expensive glass of wine that ended up all over his robes and a very rare book that was quickly stained cranberry red. 

Jack’s terror coated his tongue like a thick vanilla pudding, and for all that Pitch was low on such rich dessert, he found it too sweet and too cloying and too much of Jack to be properly enjoyed. Steadying himself with a hand on the back of the couch, wavering under the intense wave of anguish, Pitch was soon moving again and quickly. His sprite needed him. Now.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Chains and cages were swinging wildly in the cavern as the Wind frantically tried to help. Nightmares paniced and screeched as they ran into each other in the mayhem.  
Jack couldn’t think, he couldn’t think, there was only the thick black bars that seemed to burn his hands and shrink around him until he couldn’t breath the very air crushed from his lungs and he was trapped and someone please let him out let him out let him out! He struck at the bars with his fists, pulled and yanked and pushed at them. Trying to break one loose, trying to squeeze through, anything to get himself free but only scraping his skin raw and bloody.

It was not often someone screamed for Pitch than of Pitch.

When the bars tore loose of their fitted shape and wrapped around him, Jack thought his heart would actually stop from the sheer terror. The cage was going to eat him and imprison him and he’d never be free to fly and run and play and he’d be trapped forever and trapped forever and trapped forever.. 

Oblivion was a mercy. 

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Safe. 

Jack woke up feeling safe. There was smooth cloth against his cheek, firm and warm and moving slowly. A steady thud-thud vibrated through to his ear. For all that Pitch was nearly as skinny as Jack himself, he made a surprisingly comfortable cushion. Especially when he was willing to wrap Jack up in a hug with long arms that in no way resembled the cold bars of a cage. A small mistake. Jack had been a little.. distracted.

The boy stayed where he was, perfectly content and willing to not think about the giant black creaking things he did not want to think about right now or possibly ever. Nope. He was warm and comfortable and quite happy just sitting there quietly for as long as Pitch allowed him. 

Safe.

* * * * * * * * * * * 

Later, Pitch would have to steal an undamaged copy of his book from a museum, gleefully watching the curators have heart attacks in finding their thousand dollars plus book drenched in wine. Insurance was not likely to cover random acts of alcohol.

Later, Jack would have a small obsession with setting free caged birds. Far too many people trapped wild birds for their amusement, which Jack was perfectly happy to fix.

And, just in case, Pitch began to teach Jack how to pick locks. A handy skill on all sorts of occasions, and a safety net. 

Jack of course was thrilled, though far more wary of the cages now and determined to never got stuck in that sort of situation again. But hey, now he had even more ways to make mischief! And that was the best part of the whole situation, wondering just what sort of things could he do now..

**Author's Note:**

> ...the cage did not try to eat Jack. The cage is not alive. Jack was just a wee bit frightened and imagining things. Just to be clear.


End file.
